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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25371505">Tim's milkshake brings all the boys and girls to the yard</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreamingBean/pseuds/ScreamingBean'>ScreamingBean</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Gen, Gift Exchange, Gift Fic, Jason Todd is just thirsty, M/M, Protective Bruce Wayne, Protective Damian Wayne, Sebastian ives is a good friend, Tim Drake Birthday Hunt, no beta we die like robins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:55:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25371505</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreamingBean/pseuds/ScreamingBean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim doesn't realize he is attractive, meanwhile the people around him notice.</p><p> </p><p>Or: times Tim was oblivious and one time he noticed</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tim Drake &amp; Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Damian Wayne, Tim Drake &amp; Sebastian Ives, Tim Drake/Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>899</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Ives</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/njw/gifts">njw</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A gift fic for the Tim birthday exchange! For the amazing njw, I hope I can give you a fraction of the happiness all your works has brought me!</p><p>Happy birthday to my boy Tim Drake! I hope one day DC will let you go past 18 years old</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sebastian is starting to regret coming to this party.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He invited Tim with to come to this party because Thomas said ‘It was cool,’ and ‘it’s just a small party.’ He was excited, his first time going to a high school party with his best friend. He and Tim are not the most outgoing person, they both rather prefer playing video games with each other or have a small campaign of W&amp;W. They get along great with each other, having their own small circle of friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And this kind of party is not the stuff they usually do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes scans over the multitude of crowd gathering, dancing, their bodies sticking to each other. He can see a few people getting drunk and scrunches up his face. Ugh. He can’t stand the smell of alcohol. He spies a few older, maybe college aged kids, mingling around, hitting on a lot of of their classmates. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yeah, Thomas just lied to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian may feel a bit out of touch with the place, with all the loud music and flashing lights, the sounds of people shouting and chattering just blends to make a loud background noise. He winces as the loud bass starts to turn up and the people holler. But Tim looks perfectly fine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He and Tim are both standing over the food table, next to the suspicious red punch Sebastian’s pretty sure was spiked. Tim seems to be eyeing over all the food and drinks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You sure you want to drink or eat that stuff? Just a heads up, I’m pretty sure most of them are spiked with drugs.” He tries to warn Tim.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim snorts and shakes his head, “Nah, I was just looking over all the things they got and trying to guess what kinds of drugs they put here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can tell the difference?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not by sight, no,” Tim replies and pulls out his phone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Ives. I gotta call about the party I’m in. This isn’t exactly what we signed up for and my folks are worried,” Tim says apologetically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waves his hands, “Nah, man it’s cool. I mean, I also thought it was just gonna be a small get together, yeah? Not something this massive,” He gestures to the room at large, crowd still buzzing with loud noises.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim sends him a look of gratitude, “Thanks man. I’ll be back in a second, it’s too loud here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim steps away as he puts his phone to his ears. He watches Tim disappear through the crowd.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few minutes pass by and Tim hasn’t come back. He checks his watch and decides to wait a few minutes more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When another few minutes pass by, he’s starting to get worried and decides to look for Tim. He can’t be that far away right? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian searches through the crowd for any sign of Tim. Pushing people out of the way and saying ‘excuse me, pardon me.’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He spots a figure that could be Tim a few feet from him, he raises his hand to wave at his friend, when he notices Tim is surrounded by two of older guys.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim puts on his ‘I am not impressed’ expression he likes to make every time a member of their party decides to mess around on the campaign, looking at them like they’re all wasting his time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One older brunet has his arm around Tim’s shoulder, body pressed close to him. While his other friend wearing a green frat jacket is talking to Tim, hands holding a cup of that red punch. They must some of the college kids coming to the party.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian creeps close, using the crowd to blend in. He strains his ears trying to listen to what they’re saying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, kid. Just try one sip, I guarantee you will have the best time of your life,” He can make out the words the green jacket guy is trying to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian sees the expression the guy putting his arm around Tim makes, he’s leering, raking his eyes up and down his friends figure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He grits his teeth. He’s aware that Tim is attractive, a few of their female and male peers shows their attraction to Tim. Although, his best friend seems to be oblivious about all of it. Not giving any of the stares and invitation to hang out a single glance. Rather preferring to hang out with Sebastian and their other campaign buddies. Besides, Tim is much more focused about his studies and his family life, often cancelling out due to sudden problems that his family gets into. Everytime Sebastian asked about it Tim just dodges the question, and eventually he left it alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Said best friend is being hit on by a couple of college students, coaxing him to drink one of the punch drinks?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not if he can’t help it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian may be a coward. But he’s not going to leave his best friend to the clutches of nasty people like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shoves the crowd and makes his way towards Tim.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Tim! Been looking for you everywhere man!” He shouts loudly, making sure his voice isn’t drowned out by the loud music and sounds of people.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim snaps his head towards him, face surprised. The other two guys stop in their tracks and stares at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian pulls up all his courage and goes over to them, tugging Tim by his hand, “Come’on Tim, rides here. Mom said there was an emergency back home and we need to leave now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The guy with his arm around Tim starts to protests, but Tim quickly ducks under and sidles up next to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, let’s go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both hurriedly walk away, ignoring the clamoring behind them. They weave through the crowd and heads towards the exit. Sebastian glances at his back, making sure the two guys didn’t follow both of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally stepping outside, they run for a bit until they can’t see the house. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian pants, out of breath, while Tim looks fine. His gaze is still glued to the house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes a deep breath, “Think we lost’em?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Tim says, eyes darting to Sebastian. “So, what was that about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The emergency thing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He scoffs, “You seriously think there was an emergency?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim gives him a puzzled look, “Uh, Yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He just gives his best friend a look back, “Seriously Tim? They were like, all over you dude.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim just rolls his eyes in response, “No, they were not ‘all over me.’ I’m pretty sure they’re just suspicious of me snooping around the house.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian pauses, “You were snooping around the house?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I was looking for a bathroom, and was too afraid to ask. So I had to snoop around,” Tim scratches his head giving him a sheepish look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sebastian just shakes his head and smiles, “Only you, Tim. Only you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both sit down on the curb. Taking a breather. Curious, he asks, “So, did you call your folks?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim blinks, “Oh yeah, I already asked them to pick me up before those two guys caught me. They shouldn’t be long now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He huffs, “Well, the party was lame anyways. Total waste of time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim hums in agreement, “Yeah, I’d rather spend the time playing video games with you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiles at his best friend, “Same time as always?” He puts up his fist</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Same time as always.” Tim bumps their fist together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim is actually enjoying the party.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well not exactly enjoying it. But.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a new drug case surrounding multiple college and high school student drug cases and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get up close.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ives got an invite from Thomas to get into the party, and Tim happily went with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sadly, Tim got caught by some college dudes while he was snooping around the house searching for clues.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got caught as he was bending over, trying to put a listening device under a cabinet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were both getting close to him, one touching him, and the other talking to him. Tim was afraid his cover was blown. Were they searching him for hidden weapons? Was the other one tasked to coerce him to drink the spiked punch so he will get hooked on the drugs?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim’s patience were wearing thin when Ives came to his rescue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim was surprised his friend came to pick him up. Ives stated something about an emergency with his mom and Tim’s mind jumps at the news.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Did something happen to her?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both quickly got out and puts some distance from the house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it turns out Ives just lied to save him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim feels warmth at the thought of his friend coming to save him. Even though he definitely didn’t need it. He’s been trained before, he could have handled those two guys easily. But, Tim appreciates the lengths Ives went through to save him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He feels a little bad for always lying to his best friend about his night time activities, always citing family business or emergency. But Tim can’t do anything except spend more time with his best friend, whether it’s in video games or W&amp;W campaign.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And maybe, next time Tim can invite Ives to go visit the Wayne Manor.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bruce</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning for some sexual innuendos by an employee</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bruce feels his joints groan as he stands up from his chair after finishing all of WE’s backlog paperwork that Lucius set aside for him. Budget approvals, finalization of new R&amp;D products, new social projects, etc. Tim may be the new CEO of Wayne Enterprises, but Bruce is still one of WE’s advisor’s, and Tim still refers to him for some big projects from the company.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stretches his arms and walks towards the window, Gotham’s usual cloudy grey sky greets his eyes. It’s a pretty nice day out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce has been feeling a bit cooped up, maybe he should have lunch together with Tim?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s been a while since Bruce has had any free time to spend with his second youngest. They work in the same building, but they rarely come across each other. Tim is busy with his own CEO meetings and project, and Bruce is, well, juggling some WE’s paperwork, handling Batman, and being Brucie Wayne. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Decided, Bruce grabs his phone and sends a quick text to Tim. Asking Tim if he wants to grab a quick lunch with him. After a few minutes, Tim replies with a thumbs up emoji. Bruce smiles and makes his way to pick up Tim from his office. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the way to the elevator, he’s walking past a room when he accidentally hears a muffled “... said, of course, Mr. Drake-Wayne!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce pauses in his steps and strides forward to the door. Was Tim in here? Why isn’t he in his office?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could hear a few laughs on the other side of the door. As he’s reaching out to open the door, another voice pipes up, “Oh yeah. I definitely wouldn't mind working under him,” and that sets off a few giggles and laughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce’s hand hangs in the air contemplating that maybe, Tim is not in the room. He decides to eavesdrop a little bit. Just to make sure he’s not wrong.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Besides, they are talking about his son. He wants to hear what kind of opinions Tim’s employees have of him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He leans against the wall, close to the door to his left, and listens.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he’s super nice to us lowly interns and employees. I can’t think of the time someone from upper management ever thanked me for bringing refreshments. They just usually complain about one thing or the other. Not enough sandwich or ‘this coffee is cold!’. Urgh. Honestly. People like Mr. Drake is the only reason I’m still hanging on,” a feminine voice spouts out, admiration coloring her words.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pssht. Yeah right, don’t talk like you don’t get any benefits from being a WE employee. This place has got dental, health coverage, AND great bonuses.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, that too. But it gets a little exhausting sometimes y’know? and hearing someone saying thank you really makes my day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few murmurs of agreements.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce feels pride rise up to his chest hearing how Tim is warmly welcomed by his workers. Satisfied, he turns to walk away when another voice jumps in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you know Mr. Drake is one of Gotham’s top 5 bachelors? third rank! Beaten by his dad and that one Jones. But they’re kinda old anyway.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he’s around our age, right? Bonus points for him!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mhm. He’s got the brain, looks, money, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> a hot bod to boot.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’d definitely fuck him,” a new voice pops in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce’s mind freezes in his tracks registering what he hears. He stands still as his feet were rooted to the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Some gasps and a few loud shushes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Michael!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Said Michael sounds unrepentant, “What? Let’s be real here, I’m not the only one who’s thinking about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few harsh murmurs that Bruce can’t make out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce is standing so still. He tightly clenches both of his fists. He can’t believe what his ears are hearing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on! Have you </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen</span>
  </em>
  <span> him in his suit? He has legs for days, and talk about a nice perky butt,” Michael leers out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another few loud angry whispers that Bruce can’t make out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then another voice comes in, “Yeah yeah, so Drake’s hot. That’s not exactly new news here. But have you seen his face? I’m pretty sure I tripped over my own shoes when I first met him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A pause, then another few sounds of agreement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right, I could get lost in his pretty blue eyes and never come back out,” a dreamy sigh followed by giggles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A lot of noises sounds in, all complementing his son in either his body, his face, his assets, or his personality.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still standing outside the room, Bruce’s mind is playing all the conversation on loop. Did. Did Tim get hit on by a lot of his employees?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why has he not heard of this from Tim? Why didn’t Tim tell him?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And how did Bruce not notice?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce’s brain is still reeling from the revelation that a lot of his young employee apparently is very attracted to his son, when he hears another voice exclaims, “You know. I hear Ms. Fox is leaving her position.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, I heard about that. She got promoted yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sooo, that means Mr. Drake’s personal assistant position is open?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bingo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Excited cheering starts to grow in the background.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmm, taking care of that man 24/7? Sign me the fuck up. I wouldn't mind getting close and </span>
  <em>
    <span>personal</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If you know what I mean.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gross, Michael. Keep it in your pants! He’s still our boss!” Snaps out a voice, followed by rounds of protests.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The guy just says “Relax, it’s just us here. No harm done.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the conversation continues on, Bruce feels his veins pulsing on his head. He could feel nails digging in on his palms. He holds back the urge to pummel the guy-- this Michael-- that’s speaking about his son in a vulgar way. Tim may be a legal adult now, but he’ll always be Bruce’s stubborn kid with a big heart. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His son.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Bruce is not Batman right now, he’s just Brucie Wayne. Clumsy, vapid, ditzy, Brucie Wayne. He can't just burst in and beat up one of his employees out of the blue, however much he wanted to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he also can’t be quiet and stay still while his son is being talked like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An Idea springs up in his mind. Bruce prepares himself and barges in the room, startling all employees and making most of them jump with surprise. Bruce pastes on his most charming looking smile on his face and scans over the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello everyone! Excuse me for barging in, but I'm afraid I’m a bit lost finding my way to my son’s office,” He laughs loudly, enjoying all the shocked expression glued on almost all of the employee in the room, “Can any you show me the way?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All of them look frozen, eyes darting to each other, gauging out if any of them is volunteering. A few of them have their eyes fixed to the cup on their hands, avoiding his eyes and not looking at him. Bruce is still putting on his bright smile, eyes gazing over each employee, discreetly looking at their ID tags.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-Well, Mr. Wayne--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! How about Michael over there?” He exclaims, clapping his hands. Affixing his eyes to the blond haired man gripping tight to the cup in his hands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-who? Me?” He stutters out loud, eyes darting side to side to see if he was mistaken.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce’s smile goes a little bit sharp, he could feel the muscles in his cheeks being pulled. “Yes, you. Is there any other Michael over here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um. No, sir?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great! You can guide me to my son’s office.” Bruce says as walks towards the guy. Putting his right arm around Michael’s shoulders, he could feel the guy trembling a little bit on his feet, “Come on! Chop chop!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce steers the both of them away out of the room, closing the door with a slam behind him. Hands still gripping tight on Michael’s shoulder, the blond’s blue eyes are still wide, sweat starts beading on his forehead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, I’m sure you know your way to my son’s office. I tend to forget stuff sometimes!” Bruce quips in, both of them walking down the corridor. “I haven’t exactly had the time to spend some time with my son with all the work he has to do. He’s always so busy!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Arriving at the end of the hallway, Bruce presses the elevator button. They both stood still, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Out of the corner of his eye, Bruce sees the employee shuffles his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, um. Sir, your hands?” Michael stammers out, beads of sweat dripping down his head, he keeps darting his eyes towards Bruce and the hand around his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Whoops, forgot my own strength a little bit there.” Bruce laughs out loud and releases his grip. The blond quickly steps aside, putting a bit of distance between them. He rubs his palm over his pants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, ah, no problem sir.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The elevator dings while the door opens, it’s empty except for the two of them. Bruce’s smile twitches and they both step in the hunk of metal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, I can’t really remember which floor he is in. Mind pushing the button for me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course, sir.” Michael hurriedly steps in front of the button and pushes the floor number. As the door shuts close, he stays there, putting his back towards Bruce, eyes resolutely not looking behind him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce lets his expression slip, eyes boring into the other man’s back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For someone who talks so big, looks like he’s just another coward. Bruce hates the thought of Tim interacting with people like this, who’s all talk and no backbone to back it whatsoever. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Especially</span>
  </em>
  <span> when they have indecent thoughts about his son.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, I heard you all talking about applying to be my son’s personal assistant,” Bruce speaks out loud. Michael flinches and makes a horrified noise. He’s probably thinking of the fact that Bruce eavesdropped their conversation a few minutes ago. He timidly replies with a quiet, “Yes, sir.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce hums out loud, head tilting to the side. He taps his right foot and crosses his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Miss Fox is an excellent personal assistant to my son. She is a hardworking and intelligent young lady, with nerves of steel and a no nonsense attitude.” Bruce continues, eyes till boring into the blond’s back. The other man is still standing straight with a rigid posture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s also very professional.” He lets that fact sink in. Bruce lets the few seconds of silence between them feel suffocating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid no other employee can measure up to her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sound of a ding and the door opens. Michael is quick on his feet to get out of the elevator. Bruce calmly makes his way out of the elevator, his shoes make a tapping sound against the tiles. The other man looks absolutely terrified, face white as sheet, eyes widening, and sweat dripping down. Bruce feels satisfaction rising up in his heart seeing the look on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I assure you, Michael,” Bruce growls with distaste in his voice, letting a little bit of Batman peeking through. His face set in hard lines, cold with ire, “My son has no need for people like you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other man is looking at Bruce with absolute fear in his eyes. His feet are trembling, eyes glued to Bruce’s face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce can hear the sound of the elevator doors closing behind him. Then, he lets out a dazzling smile and laughs out loud startling the other man, making him jump. “Hahaha! I’m just joking with you, young man,” Bruce steps closer and pats him hard in the back a few times.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ha--haha, y-you got me, sir,” the employee forcefully laughs out, the remaining fear still stuck on his face, strands of his hair stuck on his forehead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now you can go back to whatever it is you’re doing. I’ve remembered the way to my son’s office just now!” Bruce puts his right hand on his forehead, “Silly me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah. Y-yes, of course, sir.” Michael exhales with relief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Run along now,” Bruce shoosh him out of the way. Michael just bolts and hurriedly to the front of the elevator, putting his back towards Bruce once again. Bruce sees him trying to push the button multiple times. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce turns his head away and ignores the pathetic man. That man's not worth his time. He has a son he needs to see.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He arrives at Tim’s office and knocks on the door. He hears a faint, “Come in,” and then he opens the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce feels a genuine smile tugging on his lips seeing his son. Tim is looking over some pile of papers while sitting in his office chair, he has a bored look on his face as his eyes skim over the document.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Tim. I’ve come to pick you up for some lunch.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim waves his unoccupied hand, eyes never leaving the document and answers, “Yeah, what took you so long? I was waiting for you a few minutes ago before Tam dumped a pile of these papers on me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Interests piqued, Bruce walks forward to see what papers his son is looking at. He stills himself when he sees what appears to be a bunch of CV’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you looking at a bunch of CV’s, Tim?” Bruce asks carefully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you know how Tam is not my PA anymore?” Answers Tim, he glances at Bruce before looking back at the document, “These are the selected applicants, I need to at least look at them and sort them out before Tam and I do any interviews.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce tries to erase the thought of bad people trying to get close to his son. Tim is pretty reliant on Tamara, depending on her to arrange his schedules, set the time and place of his meetings, and vets the people he’s supposed to meet. Bruce can’t help but feel worried. What if someone took advantage of his son? He knows his son is perfectly capable of defending himself, but Tim can be a bit dense at times.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What if he doesn’t realize the future assistant is trying to forge a relationship with him?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce has seen multiple people, whether inside or outside the hero community, try to flirt with his son. Tim usually brushes them off or laughs, not taking any of it seriously. He fears the day that someone may force their way in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now, Bruce has been lucky with Tam, as the girl is not interested in dating Tim in any sort of way, minus the whole fake-fiancee news disaster. But, there are also a lot of people like Michael out there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce sighs and makes up his mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Tim,” Bruce calls, gently pushing the file his son is reading down from his face. Tim quirks his eyebrow in response, still holding the paper, looking at Bruce with confusion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about we grab lunch first? Then maybe we could talk about hiring your new personal assistant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim blinks at him, “Sure,” He shrugs casually and sets the papers down. He stands up to walk alongside Bruce, they both walk out of Tim’s office to grab some lunch outside the tower.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they’re walking together, Bruce is making contingencies in his mind while listening to Tim chatter on about his life. He has to make sure several new rules for office harassment put into place by next week, not to mention personally vetting and handpicking a new assistant for Tim.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’ll always make sure his son is safe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim is confused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bruce has been hounding him and taking over all of the stuff he needs to do to pick a new personal assistant. Bruce now holds all the applications and vets all of them personally.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim doesn’t know if he should be offended or touched by the apparent overbearing concern being put into him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He probably should feel offended.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Did Bruce not trust Tim to take care of his own employees?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim can only complain all of his concerns to Tam, while said person just looks on amusedly at him. She’s probably laughing at his misery.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He almost rejects all of them! All of them!” He shouts to Tam. The two of them are inside his office. He already turned off all of the listening devices planted, so Bruce won’t be able to hear any of this conversation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tam just nods every time he says something. He’s pretty sure she’s only half listening right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim continues, “I mean Tam, he already crosses out almost all of the younger applicants! All that’s left from that pile is a bunch of strict old people. I can’t stand having an older person bossing me around like that!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tam looks at him and gives him a look. “I’m pretty sure </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> older than you. Tim, you’re 19, 98% of the company’s employees are older than you. What’s the point are you trying to make here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim lays his head on the crook of his crossed elbows on the desk, “It’s just that, I probably won’t be able to relax, or have fun conversations like the one you and I have all the time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tam snorts, “Yeah, gossiping about the going ons in the company and your other ‘friends’,” she says making quotation marks in the air, “Sure is a fun way to kill time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim pouts at her, “I’m serious here. Why did Bruce reject all of them? Sure they’re pretty young, but they’ve already met all the required experience needed. I don’t understand him at all.” He throws his head back and leans back to his seat, his bangs falling to his face. He huffs a breath, air pushing the hair out of his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tam snickers at him, shoulders shaking as she laughs, looking like she knows something he doesn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Tim asks, glaring at Tam, suspicion in his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh nothing.” She looks away, putting an innocent expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yeah, he’s not buying that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim eyes dart to the side, “Is he being paranoid, about, you know?” He whispers to Tam as he makes a bat symbol with his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tam rolls her eyes, “Trust me, Tim. You don’t need to be so worried about this. Yeah, I guess he’s a bit paranoid, but not about what you’re thinking of.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim scoffs, “Yeah, well. He needs to be able to trust me more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tam just shakes her head, exasperated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the end, Tim meets with Alyssa, his new personal assistant, carefully vetted by Bruce. He was able to pick her by himself out of a total of three candidates. The other was a 40 year old man that reminded him of Alfred, and another middle aged lady like Alyssa. Tim decides on Alyssa as she’s the one who didn’t look at him like someone to coddle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s been doing well, able to pick up Tam’s pointers and advice fast. They both have the same no nonsense attitude that helps him greatly. He just wishes she could be a little more relaxed and not just have awkward conversations every time they ran out of work-related things to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the other side of things, Bruce looks approving of his new assistant. Sometimes chatting up with her asking her about her kids at home. Alyssa looks happy enough to talk to him about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe he should try asking her about her kids too?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yeah, no way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the end, Tim can only sigh and chalks it all up to Bruce’s over paranoid tendencies.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Damian</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Damian scowls as he watches Red Robin collapses his Bo and tucks it away. He and Drake are stuck together for patrol this night because they are on a case together. He already protested to Father that he can do this on his own, but apparently one of Drake’s cases coincidentally matches up with his. So, now he’s stuck with his predecessor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure that’s the last of them,” Drake says, looking around the goons surrounding them, unconscious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian rolls his eyes under his domino, “What astute observation you have, surely the miscreants around you told you that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drake ignores him as he wanders around the room, searching for the main computer room where this new crime syndicate stores their records. Damian trails suit, eyes roving over the room, comparing the layout with the building blueprints he already memorized. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drake walks over to open one of the locked doors. He walks in and Damian follows behind him. They both see the multiple computers lined up alongside a few server cabinets. This must be where this new crime organization kept their records.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I’ll take it from here.” Drake says as he walks to one of the computers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? Do you think I will entrust this to you alone?” Damian snaps out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drake sighs and pulls out a USB, “Oracle and I already built a new fast system where we could hack their files more easily, but we haven’t exactly taught them to the rest of you. So, I’m the one who is currently able to operate this thing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian concedes that Drake may be an inferior Robin than him, but he has to admit that in some fields he is outmatched.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, I will take guard outside, in case they called for back up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drake makes a noise of acknowledgment and gets to work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian walks outside and stands in front of the door, eyes scanning his surroundings for any signs of threat. He’s standing guard for a while when his comm rings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Robin.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Robins this is Batgirl. There are some of enforcers headed your way, you guys might wanna intercept them before they can prevent you from getting the intel.” Brown’s clear voice rings out, he can hear the sounds of a scuffle in the background.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tt. Understood.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Roger that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian readies his weapon and sends an alert to Drake that he is going outside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He puts up his guard as he walks towards the main lobby. One of the goons he and Drake defeated earlier is nowhere to be found. He scowls. They must be the ones who alerted their associates.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s perched on a window when he hears footsteps in the distance. He scoffs quietly, these enforcers must not be so skilled if he can detect them coming. He’s confident he can take care of all of them by himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He silently climbs the stairs out to the roof, ready to jump. He observes them, gauging their numbers and abilities, his brain running through the actions he needs to take to defeat them efficiently. He’s ready to throw one of the smoke bombs when the beaten up goon says, “Yeah, It’s the brat and the pretty one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His brain screeches into a halt. What? Pretty one?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Did he mishear?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian decides to wait and observe first, to assess the situation further so he doesn't make any mistakes, of course.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of the big burly men grunts out, “Robin and Red Robin?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah the angry brat and the pretty one, the brat was carrying his katana and the other one was using his Bo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bald man beside the big burly one leers, “Oh yeah, I’ve encountered that pretty face before. Not that good of a fighter from what I’ve seen, but man those ass and legs? I wouldn’t mind tangling him with him. If you know what I mean.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian grits his teeth and clenches the smoke bomb in his hand tighter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>How dare they?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another one scoffs, “Gross, Heinkel.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just sayin’.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, man. He may have whacked me around with that stick of his, but my eyes kept wandering to his flowing hair and face, y’know?” The beaten-up goon Damian’s pretty sure he knocked out earlier pipes up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Heinkel slings an arm around the beaten up man, “You get me, Joe. That slim waist? Perky petite ass? Bet’cha he’s tight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian feels red creeping into his vision. How fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare</span>
  </em>
  <span> they? He will make sure to punch all of them in the eyes after this. Maybe the threat of castration will make them think twice before spitting filth out of their mouths.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The big burly one just sighs, “Well, we’re not tangling with any of the bats anytime soon, Sonny already planted a bomb in the building. We just gotta wait for him to get out, now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian startles at the information and curses silently under his breath, hand to his comm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Red Robin. There is a bomb planted in the building. Location unknown. Detonation time unknown. Get out of there, quick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Red Robin here. Just a little more time, I’m finishing up a few things.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian takes a deep breath, “Do not endanger yourself needlessly Red, Intel can be found anywhere.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, don’t worry Robin. Have some faith, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do not make me regret this.” Damian bits out while staring at the goons still chattering their mindless drivel, digging their graves deeper and deeper. The smoke bomb feels hot in his grip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Roger that.” He can hear Drake’s cheeky tone. Damian vows to himself to replace the coffee in the coffee machine in the manor with decaf coffee the next time Drake decides to stay in the manor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian focuses his attention towards the lowlifes, all relaxed, thinking they’ve got this in the bag. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He throws the smoke bomb at them and jumps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim was already prepared to intercept the guy who planted the bomb thanks to Steph’s heads up. So he ties up the man he just knocked out and binds him in a tight knot to a heavy metal table in the room. He makes sure the man is completely immobilized before he turns his back to wait for the program to finish.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim waits and huffs a breath. Really. It was sweet of the brat to show concern for him once in a while, but he’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> incompetent, thank you very much.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as the program’s finished, Tim unplugs and pockets the USB. He walks outside the room and checks on Damian through the comms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Robin, this is Red, I’ve got the situation under control. Bomb wasn’t planted yet and I got the guy tied up and KO’ed. What’s your status?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a pause, Tim could hear the sound of groaning in the background. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tt. I am done with these criminals. They should not get in the way anymore.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim grimaces and hurries his steps as his mind imagines what kind of injuries Damian inflicted on those enforcers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim readies his Bo staff as he sees Damian standing over what appears to be a scattering of big muscled men. All in various states of injuries. A few them are still groaning and twitching on the ground, while one is whimpering while covering his... junk?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim puts away his Bo, confused by the situation. His mind running a million scenarios on what happened. He looks at Damian, who’s just scowling there while crossing his arms, and back at the men in his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, what happened here?” Tim asks. He looked more closely and saw almost all of them had black eyes, a few of them are bleeding from various cuts, and, yup his eyes didn’t deceive him, </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> guys covering their crotch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian has been better lately with holding back against small criminals like these. What on earth caused him to act out again?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They were being profligate. That does not matter now. Did you get the intel we need?” Damian grouses out. His body still looks tense and face scrunched with anger. His eyes never leaving Tim.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim mouths the word profligate to himself, “Yeah, I got it. You sure you’re okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian looks away and tsks, “Yes, I am sure.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim decides to leave Damian to his own brooding and calls the Commissioner for some police help with all the knocked out criminals.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he finishes the call, he could still feel Damian glaring at him. Okay, what now?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Damian?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim didn’t think Damian could glare even harder, but apparently he can. His eyebrows scrunch up and he snaps out, “You should cut your hair.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim blinks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tt. Do I have to do everything for you? They are a distraction and a hindrance. Better yet, you should go back to wearing that cowl,” Damian says, clearly bothered by something.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim is even more confused by the conversation. He touches his bangs. What’s wrong with his hair? Sure it might be getting a little bit long, but it’s not exactly getting in the way or anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aren’t you guys the one who told me the cowl was hideous? Why the change of heart?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian grumbles to himself. Tim could hear him mutter ‘pretty, danger, and foolish’ under his breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Again. What?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim waits for Damian to answer. He cocks his hips and puts his left hand on them. His right hand slings his Bo on his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damian looks at him again and rolls his eyes under the domino. “Obviously your head needs more protection because apparently your situational comprehension is impaired. Someone must’ve hit your head.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim bristles, offended. He opens his mouth to retort something when he hears the sounds of police sirens in the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim sighs, well, he’s just gonna leave this for future Tim to deal with. Current Tim just wants to pack up and sleep for the rest of the weekend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And that’s our cue to go. Come on.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tim climbs to the rooftops, ready to fire his grapple and swing away from his problems. Damian still staring at him, following at his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What a weird night.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Jason</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Warning for Jason's thirst lol</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Jason notices that, damn, Tim is <em> hot</em>. Happens on a nice Saturday night after patrol.</p><p> </p><p>They both had been fighting in a war between three gangs. One of the crook got a lucky hit. He managed to swiftly stab Red Robin with enough power and nicked through the armor he was wearing when the both of them were preoccupied with the bunch of brutes attacking them.</p><p> </p><p>Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Tim quickly hit the one who stabbed him with his Bo and knocked out the crook with a hard strike to the head. </p><p> </p><p>After that tiny little hiccup, not wanting to waste anymore time, they handled the rest of the fight pretty quickly. Jason walks over to check on his replacement to see what kind of damage he took.</p><p> </p><p>“Damn, Red. Bit sloppy don’cha think?” He teases out, Tim was obviously fine, aside from the irritated look on his face and hand pressed to his left abdomen. </p><p> </p><p>“Bite me, Hood.” Tim grumbles out, his unoccupied hand fishes out the burner phone out of his toolbelt.</p><p> </p><p>“Well don’t mind if I do.” He purrs out with a roguish grin. Tim just rolls his eyes under the Domino and goes to call the GCPD to handle all the mess at their feet.</p><p> </p><p>“I have a safehouse close enough down the road. Think you can hold on that far?” He asks Tim. Jason knows Tim has a pretty shitty immune system, no spleen and all. Even the tiniest knick could cause a serious problem for him in the future if left untreated.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it doesn’t feel too deep anyway. Maybe needs a few stitches though,” Tim replies, looking at his bloodied hand and wincing.</p><p> </p><p>After making sure the GCPD was close enough to the scene, they both made a quick getaway to Jason’s safehouse.</p><p> </p><p>Tim sits on a ratty sofa in the living room, right hand still pressing on his wound while Jason rummages through his medical supply.</p><p> </p><p>“I got the medkit ready here. C’mon, let’s see the damage.” He calls out as he brings the kit to the living room. He’s opening the kit to grab the needle, thread, pain reliever, and antibiotics while Tim tries to take off his armor and underarmor. </p><p> </p><p>Jason takes one look at Tim and, well. That’s when he notices Tim’s, uh, everything. He chokes a little as Tim fumbles over pulling off the last piece of upper clothing blocking his skin from Jason’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Jason’s eyes widen, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, his heartbeat picks up. Fuck. He could see all of Tim’s muscles. His abs, pecs, biceps, shoulders. Muscle moving fluidly as Tim throws his shirt over his head. Jason pulls his eyes away from Tim’s body and roves over Tim’s face. </p><p> </p><p>Crap. Bad idea.</p><p> </p><p>Without the domino, Tim’s eyes seemed to pop in the darkness, bright blue shines in the dim light of Jason's crummy safehouse. High cheekbone and sharp jawline. Pink lips that’s a bit red after Tim biting it to hold off the pain.</p><p> </p><p>Jason felt his heart stutter.</p><p> </p><p>Oh. Oh <em> fuck</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Fuck, the goddamn Replacement has no business being so goddamn <em> pretty</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Jason hasn’t seen Tim in any state besides Tim’s usual ratty T-shirt and sweatpants, his Red Robin armor, and his business suit a couple of times. He recognizes <em> now </em> of all times that the scrawny dweeby 16 year old kid is now nowhere to be found. Instead, now stood a drop dead gorgeous 20 year old man in his shabby safehouse.</p><p> </p><p>While Jason was having a mind blowing revelation in his head, Tim lays down on the ratty couch and scowls.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, what are you waiting for?” Tim’s voice rings out inside Jason’s head, but his brain is still scrambled by the ‘<em>Fuck. Fuck. He’s hot</em>’ alert blaring out inside his mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. The stab wound.” Jason tries to focus on the task at hand. His eyes gazes at the stab wound sluggishly bleeding on Tim’s lower left abdomen just above Tim’s hips. Shit. Jason’s eyes can’t help but wander to the deep V straight down to--</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, my stab wound that’s currently still bleeding. Yes, that stab wound. Would be nice to get some medical help anytime soon here, thanks.” Tim sasses at him. His eyes snaps towards Tim’s face. Blue eyes glaring, scrunched up nose, and pink pursed lip.</p><p> </p><p>Jason blinks a couple of times and snaps out of his trance.</p><p> </p><p>“Right, okay.”</p><p> </p><p>He pulls out the medical tools and lets his hands automatically stitches Tim’s wound. Jason’s done this enough times he probably could stitch up a wound with his eyes closed. But his movements felt robotic and stiff while his mind is on autopilot.</p><p> </p><p>He finishes off the stitches and cuts the excess thread and puts away the medical tools. He packs them up inside the medical bag and rises up to his feet. Jason could hear Tim thanking him, and he replies with ‘no problem’ as he goes to the bathroom to put away the medkit.</p><p> </p><p>Jason goes over to the sink and splashes water over his face. His hands gripping the edge of the bathroom sink. He stares at himself in the mirror, blue-green eyes stares back at him.</p><p> </p><p>Fuck. He needs to snap out of it. So what if he realizes Tim is a little hot? He's surrounded by drop dead gorgeous people that can turn anyone’s head around. Kory, Dick, Donna, Roy, to name a few. This is no big deal.</p><p> </p><p>He and Tim have been getting along pretty well lately, there’s no need to complicate things with this trivial attraction. Sure they’ve been bantering with each other a lot lately, maybe a little bit flirting around. But that’s just their way of getting along.</p><p> </p><p>Jason needs to get a grip and snap out of it. He shakes his head as he moves out of the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>He has this handled.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry about that, I just had a thing in my mind and--” Jason chokes off on his sentence.</p><p> </p><p>Tim is bending down.</p><p> </p><p>Tim is <em> bending </em> down as he rummages through Jason’s fridge.</p><p> </p><p>And Jason. Just. </p><p> </p><p>Short circuits.</p><p> </p><p>Tim’s ass. Jason can see Tim’s ass in HD.</p><p> </p><p>Tim’s not in his usual baggy sweatpants, he’s in his skintight Red Robin pants. </p><p> </p><p>Skintight. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Fuck, I wanna bite them. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Why is your fridge so empty? I thought you said you always stock up for each safehouse cause you always get hungry.” Tim says, pulling out a can of sliced peaches. He goes over to grab a fork and a can opener, then opens the can.</p><p> </p><p>Jason is still frozen on his feet. Brain booting up from the image he just imprinted on his mind. His clothes felt suffocating as his skin heats up and starts sweating.</p><p> </p><p>“Uhhh. Uh-huh.”</p><p> </p><p>Tim just raises one of his eyebrow, chewing on the peaches, he looks bemused by Jason’s unintelligent response.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you want some?” Tim offers the peaches towards him.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah, I definitely want to eat your split peach,” Jason blurts out.</p><p> </p><p>Shit. Brain to mouth filter definitely not working. Abort. <em> Abort</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Tim just scrunches up his face, “But it’s your peach? and this is sliced peaches Jay,” He replies, shoving another peach into his mouth. The syrup from the can making his lips glisten in the faint light.</p><p> </p><p>Jason eyes can’t seem to pull away from Tim’s mouth so he just mutters an, “Uh, yeah, I know.” Like an idiot.</p><p> </p><p>Tim shrugs and proceeds to eat all the peaches inside the can. Pink tongue poking out of his mouth to lick the excess syrup that’s dripping down his fingers.</p><p> </p><p>Jason could feel all the blood in his head drains south towards his--</p><p> </p><p>That’s it. Jason can’t take it anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh. I gotta go. To the bathroom.”</p><p> </p><p>He quickly bails out of the room, not quite running, but walks fast enough to get away from Tim as fast and discreet as possible.</p><p> </p><p>He slams the bathroom door shut and breathes heavily, hands adjusting his pants.</p><p> </p><p>Shit. Fuck. He does not have this handled.</p><p> </p><p>Okay fine, maybe he’s really, <em> really</em>, attracted to his successor. He already likes the guy, sassy, whip smart, can take down ten guys twice his size, and could go toe-to-toe with some of the top fighters in the world. Add the fact that he’s goddamn gorgeous with a hot body to boot. And, yeah.</p><p> </p><p>All in all, Tim’s not the worst person to have a crush on.</p><p> </p><p>Except for the fact that he’s tried to kill Tim in the past. Multiple times.</p><p> </p><p>Fuck you past Jason for making things harder for present Jason.</p><p> </p><p>Jason groans and puts his face on his hands. Palm dragging down his face as he beats himself in his head. There’s no way in hell Tim is going to ever look Jason’s way.</p><p> </p><p>Jason’s a foulmouthed street rat, with no day job, nor any degree or diploma on his hands. He’s just a crime-lord slash vigilante with multiple kill count on his belt.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Tim’s a goddamn CEO of Wayne Enterprises, founder of the Neon Knights program, has a GED, and is now rolling in Gotham University.</p><p> </p><p>Tim’s so out of his league it’s not even funny.</p><p> </p><p>Jason was muttering curses under his breath at himself, when suddenly a knock on his bathroom door makes him jump.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay in there Jay?” Tim’s voice sounds worried from the other side of the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I just had, uh, a stomachache,” Jason winces at the lame excuse.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Well, I’ll just wait in the living room okay?” Tim replies sheepishly.</p><p> </p><p>Jason waits until the sounds of footsteps fades away before he smacks himself on the face.</p><p> </p><p>Right. He needs to keep it together.</p><p> </p><p>No self-deprecating thoughts, he’s been doing better lately. And hey, Tim obviously cares about him at least a little bit to check up on Jason like that. Not to mention, they’ve been getting along pretty well every time they team up together. So. Not all hope is lost.</p><p> </p><p>He calms himself down and mind running a mile per minute, making plans on how to make Tim like him. He’s a fucking champion on wooing someone.</p><p> </p><p>He gets out of the bathroom, determined. He greets Tim with a grin, and sets his plans.</p><p> </p><p>He’s Jason Todd. He can do this.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>He can’t do this.</p><p> </p><p>Since then, Jason has been making constant remarks and hitting on Tim all the time. But sadly, the other man is goddamn oblivious <em> idiot</em>.</p><p> </p><p>When Jason says “I must be with the devil, because you’re hot as hell,” after he spars with Tim. Tim just puts the back of his hand on his head and with a confused face replies with, “I don’t think I have a fever. Maybe you’re just too cold?”</p><p> </p><p>Jason had to resist the temptation to smack his head on the training mat. Hard.</p><p> </p><p>When Jason says “Those are nice jeans, do you think I could get in them?” Tim thinks Jason wants to borrow his jeans and replies with “Why would you want to get in mine? I don’t think we’re the same size. Actually, you'd probably rip my jeans apart.” Then, Tim proceeds to give Jason the address of the store where he bought the jeans.</p><p> </p><p>Jason couldn’t resist the urge to facepalm so hard after that.</p><p> </p><p>Really.</p><p> </p><p>He tries and tries, hanging out with Tim more, cooking his favorite foods (Pizza with artichoke and olives? Jason is not the type to waste any kind of food. But. <em> Why</em>), he always try with multiple pick up lines, all ranging from the most absurd and the cheesiest. </p><p> </p><p>He calls Tim by multiple variations of nicknames, ranging from Sourpatch to Doll to Babe. Tim just brushed them all off and either rolled his eyes or laughed.</p><p> </p><p>He’s pretty sure all of the family already noticed by now. Dick has been giving him odd looks every time the three of them team up. Bruce just looks more constipated when he sees them together. Alfred has been giving him more recipes of Tim’s favorite foods. Cass just gave him a look of pity and a thumbs up. Stephanie just laughed her ass off and said ‘Yeah, good luck with that’ as she continues snickering. </p><p> </p><p>Hell, even Damian noticed. </p><p> </p><p>He was just lounging on his apartment when the demon brat suddenly showed up and threatened to castrate him in case he ‘does anything improprietous towards Drake’.</p><p> </p><p>Jason had to make sure he wasn’t on drugs or anything after that one. Seriously. Even Damian.</p><p> </p><p>But Tim?</p><p> </p><p>He. Never. Noticed. </p><p> </p><p>Tim is so goddamn oblivious, all the gestures Jason has been making is lost on his deep maze of a brain it probably never even reached Tim’s thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>Tim may be a genius, but he’s also a fucking moron.</p><p> </p><p>Jason sighs as he lays down on Tim’s bed. He glances at Tim a few feet away, working on his laptop, eyes squinting at the screen in front of him, face scrunched up adorably.</p><p> </p><p>He closes his eyes and smushes his head on Tim’s pillow, and then, he accidentally inhales Tim’s scent lingering on the pillow. <em> Shit</em>. Peppermint and citrus.</p><p> </p><p>Jason wants to scream.</p><p> </p><p>Instead he just grumbles about how stupid Tim is under his breath and glares at the idiot across the room. Said idiot is oblivious to Jason’s plight.</p><p> </p><p>Jason throws the pillow across the room, hitting Tim square in the face. Tim squawks and shouts.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Tim throws the pillow back to him, but he dodges out of the way, letting the pillow hit the bed and fall onto the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Tim just mutters under his breath, face marred with a scowl, and gets back to his work.</p><p> </p><p>Jason huffs a breath and falls back to the bed, resigning himself to his fate. </p><p> </p><p>Tim’s never gonna look his way. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Tim yawns and stretches as his brain begins booting up after a couple hours of sleep. He groggily gets up and shuffles out of the room to get some coffee. </p><p> </p><p>He mumbles a sleepy, “Morn’n,” towards Jason who’s cooking something on the stove. Jason just grunts in reply.</p><p> </p><p>Tim and Jason have been working together to take down a massive human trafficking ring for the past week, and this is the second night Tim has stayed over. They’ve gotten closer these past few weeks with Jason inviting him to hang out more and making him food, because, apparently, he has the taste of a trash goblin.</p><p> </p><p>He trails towards the coffee machine to make some coffee. Eyes still squinting shut while he rubs it awake. He presses the button to turn the machine on and waits for the coffee to be done.</p><p> </p><p>As he’s waiting, Jason suddenly pipes up, ”If you were ground coffee, you’d be Espresso cause you’re so fine.”</p><p> </p><p>Tim’s brain is still mush after waking up. So, he blinks. </p><p> </p><p>He blinks again.</p><p> </p><p>He pauses for a few seconds.</p><p> </p><p>Tim crinkles his forehead, his eyes opening as he’s slowly connecting the dots in his mind. </p><p> </p><p>“Have… Have you been flirting with me?” Tim asks, bewildered. His brain sluggishly examining through all their past interactions .</p><p> </p><p>Jason freezes and swiftly turns his head towards Tim. Jason gapes at him, eyes wide and mouth open. He looks shocked.</p><p> </p><p>“You get this now?!” shouts Jason, still gawking at him.</p><p> </p><p>Tim slowly blinks at him again with a dumbfounded expression. They both stare at each other.</p><p> </p><p>The sound of the coffee machine dings in the background.</p><p> </p><p>Jason shouts more, “Really?! This one? This is the one that gets to you?!” </p><p> </p><p>Jason throws his hands up in the air, ranting about how ridiculous Tim is, mouth frothing, while Tim's still rebooting, mind busy with processing all the stuff Jason had said to him before. Just now, he began registering all of it in his mind.</p><p> </p><p>Flirting? Jason was <em> flirting</em>?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Why?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jason is like, way out of his league. He’s gorgeous, kind, he brings hope to the mistreated people, he’s Tim’s hero, and just.</p><p> </p><p>Why would Jason want <em> him</em>?</p><p> </p><p>Not realizing Jason has stopped in the middle of his tirade, Tim shakes his head and starts chugging down his coffee. Hiding the bottom of his face behind the mug.</p><p> </p><p>Jason grips the kitchen counter and glares at him.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s bullshit.” Jason bites out, eyes focused on Tim’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Tim mumbles behind his mug.</p><p> </p><p>Jason makes a noise and glares at him harder.</p><p> </p><p>Tim makes a confused noise back at him. What does Jason want? For Tim to be his boyfriend? No way.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes!” Jason shouts, exasperated, “Yes that’s what I want!” </p><p> </p><p>Oops. Did he say that out loud?</p><p> </p><p>Jason hangs his head down and puts his palm over his face, “Yeah, you idiot.”</p><p> </p><p>Tim scrunches his face even further. He doesn’t understand why Jason would ever want to date <em> him</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Jason sighs at the other side of the room, “Yeah. Sometimes I ask myself the same question,” Jason says, walking towards Tim and stops just in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>Tim is frozen, rooted to his feet. Blue-green eyes are staring at him with a determined expression.</p><p> </p><p>“Tim. Timbers. Baby bird.” Jason starts, back straight with hands on his sides.</p><p> </p><p>“Y-yeah?” Oh god. Shit. Tim’s brain is not 100% right now. He can’t handle being so close to Jason’s handsome face this early in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>“You are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. You’re so full of determination and compassion to help other people you sometimes forget to care for yourself,” Jason says as he takes away the mug in Tim's hand and sets it aside. Tim’s eyes widen. His mind is reeling from all the words Jason is spouting out right now, because, What, “You’re so smart it blows me away, you never stop searching for an answer and solution, however hard the case might be,” The Fuck?</p><p> </p><p>Tim feels heat creeping up his cheek ever since Jason began to rant and now he’s pretty sure his face looks like a ripe tomato. Jason stops his rant to chuckle at the look on Tim’s face, his eyes soften as he smiles towards Tim.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re also the biggest idiot I know.” Jason teases, eyes squinting as he laughs at Tim, “Seriously, how can you misunderstand so many of my pick up lines?”</p><p> </p><p>Tim blinks at him, recalling all his past interactions with Jason.</p><p> </p><p><em> Oh</em>. Oh god. The jeans. </p><p> </p><p>Did he really think Jason wanted to borrow his jeans?</p><p> </p><p>Crap. He’s a colossal <em> idiot</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Tim groans at his idiocy and puts his face into both of his palms. He can feel the heat diffusing to his palms, squinting his eyes shut while he beats himself up in his mind.</p><p> </p><p>Jason laughs as he gently pulls Tim’s hand from his face, “Guess you also didn’t realize the time I spent going to the bathroom every time you decide to crash in my bed?”</p><p> </p><p>Tim lets out a surprised squeak at Jason’s comment and looks up the other man, eyes wide as saucers. Is Jason saying what he thinks he’s saying?</p><p> </p><p>He splutters out a denial when Jason slowly puts his hand around Tim, hugging him, hands settling around the small of Tim’s back. Tim lets himself get pulled into the hug, his hands hang loosely on his side not sure where he should put them. His mind still whirling from all the revelation Jason just gave him.</p><p> </p><p>Tim feels Jason tucking his head under the older man’s chin, he could feel Jason’s chest rumble with laughter, “I mean, have you seen yourself in front of a mirror? Because damn baby bird. Anyone would turn their heads to look at you.”</p><p> </p><p>Tim lets out an embarrassed whine and tucks his face to the crook of Jason’s neck, pushing his forehead against the older man’s neck. He can feel his heart beating fast, thumping against his chest. </p><p> </p><p>He steels his nerves and slowly tilts his head upwards, peeking at Jason’s face. Jason is still looking at him with a soft look, mirth dancing in his blue-green eyes. Tim quickly looks down and mumbles, “Sorry. I-- uh. I’ve never noticed.”</p><p> </p><p>Jason snorts out a short laugh, “Yeah, I got that the fifth time I tried using my pickup lines at you.” He pushes himself off Jason’s chest and looks at the taller man dead in the eye.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, they’re not very good,” He tells Jason, “Seriously, all of them sounds lame now that I think back on it. And just now? Espresso, really?” Tim purses his lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Jason cries out, “It worked didn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Tim just grumbles under his breath, cheeks still flushed pink, cursing Jason and his lame-ass way to get Tim’s attention, “I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>“So,” Jason starts, looking at Tim in the eye, “Pretty bird, wanna go out on a breakfast date with me? Bacon and eggs, my treat,” Jason ask with a sly grin, hands encircled on Tim’s waist.</p><p> </p><p>Tim huffs out an amused breath through his nose, a smile pulling on his lips. He’s had this kind of breakfast with Jason numerous times. Memories of the two of them groggily waking up after a rough night out on patrol and crashing in the same safehouse surface up in his mind.</p><p> </p><p>He knows he likes Jason, he just didn’t think the other man would ever look his way. He was content with the closeness they share, but it looks like Jason wasn’t as content as he was, and was trying to get Tim to look his way.</p><p> </p><p>Well, Tim has always looked at Jason, looks like he’s not the only idiot here.</p><p> </p><p>Chest filling with warmth, Tim replies, “Sure, but next time, It’s my treat.”</p>
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